One and a half billion people worldwide are overweight, with half a billion classified as obese. The number of obese individuals has nearly doubled in the last thirty years. Among industrialized nations, the highest prevalence of obesity is found in the USA. In Europe, Turkish women and Czech men are the heaviest. German women are slightly heavier than the global average, while German men are significantly heavier. In addition to the well-known health risks, a recently researched issue is that overweight pregnant women tend to give birth to heavier babies, leading to an overall increase in newborn weights. This book provides an overview of overweight and obesity.